These 16 Abandoned Theme Parks Are What Nightmares Are Made Of

Theme parks are awesome places full of fun and adventure. There’s fun rides for the thrill seekers, great food for those who love all things deep fried, and just about everything else hearts of all ages desire. When you think of your favorite theme park is it a big one like Disney Land or Six Flags? Those are likely answers because with big companies taking over the little parks, the lesser known ones are going extinct. Take a look at these once amazing parks that have now turned to ruins because they’ve lost their customer bases thanks to the big cats. They no longer play upbeat music or have people in costumes walking around. There is no fun for the little ones, or anyone else for that matter. They’re all just a big pile of nothing, waiting to rot into the ground with time. It’s sad, in a sense, but we will keep their memory going strong.

1. Jazzland – New Orleans

Though this theme park started just 15 years ago, it looks like it’s been evacuated for ages. It started out rather slow, but when Six Flags took over, the park flourished. That all came to a halt though when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. It flooded so badly that it could never be reopened. Since then, no one has taken the chance to start over and get it going again.

2. Dreamland – Margate (UK)

Dreamland is one of the really old ones. It was built in 1920 and stayed running until 2003. During the time that it was bustling with people, the ownership changed hands more than a few times. It was inspired by Cooney Island in New York and had tons of popular rides, including the big wheel that showed in the Margate skyline, which got sold off when the park finally shut down.

3. Pripyat, Chernobyl (Ukraine)

There’s not much left of this dreary park. In fact, it never even got to fully open. It was supposed to open May 1st of 1986, but with the tragedies that happened nearby on April 26th, the formal opening never happened. On the 27th, it was opened for a few hours, if you can even count those, until the loudspeaker told the people that they had to evacuate as soon as possible.

4. Land of Oz – North Carolina

This park was opened for a decade in the 70’s and was themed after the Wizard of Oz. It was a part of a ski resort and only really appealed to people during the winter months. They hoped that it would become a year round thing, but unfortunately, those dreams never came true. It survived a big fire in 1975, which was rumored to have been started by unhappy employees, but due to financial hardships, the park closed down just five years later in 1980.

5. Wonderland – China

This was the biggest theme park in Asia when it was first built in the early 1990’s, but by 1998, it was out of business due to financial hardships.

6. Lake Delores Water Park – California

It’s hard to imagine a water park in California, but that’s what happened with this one. In the 1950’s this park was created mainly for one family. The creator, Bob, eventually opened it up to the public as a place to camp, ride attractions, and swim. Over the next 25 years, it became rather successful, but in the 80’s, people stopped going. It was forced to close, but has opened a few times in the last few decades, though none of those times have been successful.

7. Dogpatch – Arkansas

This park opened in 1968 and was a success for quite some time, until investors thought that their other park would do better. Their funds went to the sister site, causing big problems with this one. The park closed in 1993 and the owners put it on eBay, hoping for a buyer. They listed it to start at a million dollars but got not a single bite. A few years later, a 17-year-old boy was looking around the abandoned park and nearly had his head taken off. He was of course awarded money, but the company could not pay him as they were bankrupt. Instead, he was gifted the park. What he’s going to do with the place that almost killed him, we’re not sure.

8. Nara Dreamland – Japan

In 1961, Japan made their version of Disney Land. They had similar attractions and themes as the real Disney Land but closed in 2006 because it had low customer numbers of around 800,000 annual goers. This just goes to prove that some American dreams die before they ever really even start.